deck the halls with rice and shinies
by queendementor
Summary: a christmastime collection featuring the adopted children and those who care for and love them.
1. candles, credence, and cookies

**deck the halls with rice and shinies**

 _ch1 - candles, credence, and cookies_

Amycus knew that taking his sister to the store to pick up a Christmas gift for Maisie would be a nightmare, but so far all she'd done was hammer in the point. Alecto had thrown a tantrum when they arrived at the shopping center and Amycus refused to carry her, then when he finally relented, she began _another_ tantrum five minutes later because she wanted to walk.

Now she was in the middle of tantrum number three, splayed across the ground in a department store and screaming at the top of her lungs. Amycus registered a few dull smacks as Alecto furiously assaulted the tiles below with her shiny shoes.

Not wanting to see his sister so upset, Amycus attempted rice (which Alecto was far too upset to be calmed by, and it just wound up being thrown in his face) and shinies (which met a similar fate) before, as he reached a finger out to brush some of his sister's hair from her face, she abruptly seized it and gave him a puncture wound. Then a few more, until her brother's poor finger was just an unfortunate, bloody mess.

But it seemed to calm Alecto, and after a few moments, the two siblings left the store, Alecto having graduated to sucking on her finger the way she did when she was upset or tired. Amycus guessed she was both.

They made their way to a candle boutique, where Amycus was dismayed to learn that the candles didn't taste like their source items. Gagging a bit as he put back an apple pie candle, he tried to think of smells Maisie liked. He knew she liked his own, but the boutique didn't sell Amycus candles. The Death Eater was so deep in thought that he didn't notice as his sister, having lost interest once she learned the cookie-scented candles didn't taste like cookies, bolted from the store.

Finger returned to her mouth, Alecto wandered through the shopping center, pausing only to peer into the occasional store window, and at one point she entered a store containing pet supplies, thinking they may have chew toys. Unfortunately, they were sold out, which would have led to another tantrum if Alecto hadn't gotten distracted.

Standing beside a store kiosk was Alecto's Auntie Dragon, accompanied by her adopted son and his emotional support Maledictus. "Auntie Dragon!" Alecto shouted to no one in particular, then darted out of the store, nearly knocking over a pair of sniffy old ladies.

Meanwhile, Amycus, having finally managed to lick every candle in the small boutique, had realized that his sister had wandered off. 'Hmm, if I were Alecto and I were tired of looking at candles, where would I go?' he asked himself. Instantly, he thought of the pet store, thinking she might have gone to procure a chew toy. But by the time he got there, Alecto was gone.

He hunted for her, and Alecto hurtled through the center corridors, dodging a man with a large tub of fried chicken as she flew at top speed towards Dragon. She came closer and closer until she could hear what her auntie was saying.

"Alecto, it really is great to see you, but I think you should —"

 _Wham!_ Alecto hadn't even realized she'd made it to her destination until she slammed directly into Credence and sent both of them to the floor. Both were entirely unharmed, just a bit stunned from the sudden impact, but unfortunately for Alecto, Ella, toting a shopping bag and her son Draco, had seen everything.

"Alecto Carrow, you apologize to him right now!" said Ella, as Draco grinned and murmured something about Alecto getting in trouble.

A shrug from Alecto. "I didn't do anything. He was standing where I was running! I didn't do that!"

"And if _you_ hadn't been tearing through the shopping center like a 'sniffy old lady' was after you, you would have been able to get out of the way in time. You were the one who was running around. All Credence did was stand there."

After she managed to upright both of the fallen and make sure they were all right, Dragon turned to Alecto. "Dearie, do you know where your mommy and your brother are?"

Alecto frowned. "Maisie is at home. Amycus is in that store over there, licking all the candles. They don't taste very good."

Dragon gave Alecto a slight smile and extracted a shiny cookie from a bag, which she handed to her. "Don't worry, Alecto. You just stay right here with us until we can find him."

A quarter of an hour later, the caterpillar tongue arrived before Amycus himself did, showering Dragon in a wave of gratitude before scooping his sister up and allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder. "How long has she been here?" he asked.

Dragon started to tell him it hadn't been very long, but Ella, emerging from another store, spoke before she did. "Your sister ran through the shopping center at top speed and took Credence out while she was at it."

"But he's fine, as is she. Nothing to worry about, Amycus," Dragon said.

"Are you sure?" Amycus asked as he used his tongue to remove a small string from his sister's hair.

"Positive."

"Hey! Awecto never said she was sowwy!" shouted Draco.

"No, no...it's fine, she doesn't need to," Credence slowly backed away from the screaming toddler.

"And that, Draco, is a perk of being a Death Eater. She needn't waste time on frivolous things like apologies unless she wants to. Besides, we grew up in a dark household, and even if she wanted to, giving an apology would be immensely difficult for Alecto, as she never learned how. Now, I am sure my darling Maisie is expecting us back soon, and I hate to keep her waiting."

As Ella said something to Draco about poor influences and Dragon escorted Credence and Nagini to a store selling potion ingredients, Amycus sighed and carried Alecto outside so they could Disapparate. It looked like they'd be back, and hopefully their next trip would be more productive and much less eventful.

-end-

 _i couldn't even tell you what this is._


	2. pantlessly yours

**deck the halls with rice and shinies**

 _ch2 - pantlessly yours_

It was early afternoon and Les was covered in flour, as was most of the rest of the kitchen. Gellert's pants lay forgotten next to the counter as he and Severus bolted when their mother mentioned cleaning up. Modesty had wanted to help, but her mother had decided it might be a better idea for her to keep an eye on the two toddlers. Les could always use her wand to clean up the mess, but she'd left it upstairs so that Sev and Gel wouldn't get ahold of it, and retrieving it would be impossible without her tracking flour through the house.

 _Well_ , she thought to herself, _if we're going to make cookies the Muggle way, I guess I'll have to clean it the Muggle way._

As she moistened a paper towel and used it to scrub some of the flour from the rug, Les was startled as a small hand tapped her shoulder. She turned to see Sev, as Gellert and Modesty stood in the doorway.

"Mummy, what's this?" the child asked, holding up a sheet of paper for his mother to see.

Les took it from him and recognized it immediately as the half-finished letter she had begun to write to Credence and Nagini. Placing it on the counter, above Sev's reach, she explained what it was and why it existed.

"Can we write one too?" Modesty inquired.

Now that she thought about it, it _would_ be a good way to keep the children busy while Les finished with the cleaning and the cookies. Perhaps she would have to agree to it.

"You may, but you'll have to wait until I'm finished or ask your father to help you," Les told them, as she picked up Gellert's pants and handed them to Modesty. "And if you could, ask him to put these back on Gellert while you're there."

"Yay!" The three children left the room and searched the house in pursuit of Barty. Sighing to herself, Les resumed trying to clean up the kitchen before the cookies were done.

-x-

"You want me to help you write a letter?" Barty asked as he replaced the pants of a very dismayed Gellert. "Shouldn't you ask your mother, children? I haven't written one in years."

"Mummy's busy," Sev informed him.

"She's makin' us cookies," Gellert offered.

"She told us to ask you to help us," Modesty contributed.

Barty sighed as he picked up a sheet of parchment and a quill. "Very well. Take a seat, and we'll work this out."

The children took seats surrounding him, turning to Barty as they began to think of what they might want to say.

"You should say hi," was Sev's suggestion as he watched his father begin to write. "An' how are you."

Barty began to write this down.

 _Dear Credence and Nagini,_

 _Hi. How are you?_

"Anything else?" he prompted.

"Tell them we hope they're doing well," Modesty said.

"An' if dey're not..." Gellert lowered his voice and whispered his advice into his father's ear. Barty stifled a chuckle as he copied it onto the paper.

He continued with the introduction until his wrist was beginning to grow sore, then asked if anyone had any ideas for what to put in the body.

"Daddy, can we send 'em a cookie? When Mummy's done wif 'em?" Gellert asked.

"I think not, Gel. It's not a bad idea, but if we try to mail cookies, they might get smashed on the way there, and then we'll have to write another letter and explain why we sent them a bunch of cookie crumbs."

"Cupcakes?" the toddler continued, clearly very interested in the idea of sending food.

"No, Gellert."

"Pie?"

"Gellert, we really shouldn't put food in an envelope."

Modesty came up with a compromise as Gellert pouted. "Why don't we say that we wanted to send some cookies, but Daddy thought they would get smooshy. And maybe if they come for a visit, we can have some cookies then."

This was an idea that Barty endorsed, and he wrote this down in the letter.

Being unfamiliar with proper letter format, the children were unsure of what to write for the closing. Sev and Modesty decided on one, but Gel liked another, so Barty simply combined them.

"The cookies are done!" Les called from downstairs as her fiance finished signing the children's names. As the three of them tromped away to taste-test what they had helped to make, Barty folded the letter and followed them downstairs to set it next to his wife's.

Les finished her own letter after removing her flour-covered clothes. Folding them both into an envelope, she didn't even think to read what the children had written before asking who wanted to take a walk with her to the post office.

She probably should have.

-x-

"I don't even know how to respond to this," Nagini said as she finished the letter. She handed it to Credence, who saw at once what she was talking about.

The letters from Dragon and Les had both made perfect sense. This...this was another matter entirely.

Barty had copied down:

 _Dear Credence and Nagini,_

 _Hi. How are you? We hope you're doing well. And if you're not, remember that you'll probably feel better if you take your pants off. That always makes me feel better!_

 _Mummy is making cookies, so we had to ask Daddy to help us write this. I like that, but I don't like that he won't let us send you anything fun. Gellert wanted to send you all his pants, but we had to say no to that._

 _We were going to send you some cookies, but Daddy thought they would get smooshy. Mummy says that Auntie Dragon says that you might come for a visit, so we'll give you some cookies then._

 _Also, Modesty wanted to send you some leaflets, but Mummy put those in the shredder because we don't do that here. So this letter is boring and it's all Mummy and Daddy's fault._

 _I saw something out the window and it reminded me of you._

 _Okay. None of us can think of anything else to say to you, so I guess we're done now. Thank you and have a nice day!_

 _Sincerely and pantlessly yours,_

 _Severus, Gellert, and Modesty_

"I don't know how to respond to this either," Credence replied.

They were both very confused as to why Barty thought it was a good idea to write down everything the children said without even thinking of how it might be perceived.

They couldn't really blame the children or Les for it, but Credence and Nagini never thought of Barty the same way again.

-end-

 _i have no idea what the hell this is. none whatsoever._


	3. throw rice around like confetti

**deck the halls with rice and shinies**

 _ch3- throw rice around like confetti_

It was only midmorning when Alecto, still holding her cloth rice bag, came downstairs and saw all the shiny decorations all over the house, but Maisie and Amycus, who had spent the last three hours putting everything up, were a bit droopy. But today was Alecto's birthday, and everything had to be perfect for her. So Amycus would just stir their coffee with his caterpillar tongue and keep the couple upright for the rest of the day.

"What's all this?" Alecto asked as she seized a shiny streamer and shoved it into her mouth, half of it dangling out as she nibbled.

Maisie looked up at the sound of her adopted daughter's voice. "Happy birthday, Alecto!" she exclaimed as she crossed over to Alecto, lifted her up, and spun her around before setting her back down on the shiny-flecked carpet. "Mommy and Amycus wanted everything to be perfect for your special day, so we made everything shiny. And I promise Amycus didn't lick any of the decorations."

The caterpillar tongue received a disbelieving look from Alecto.

"Okay, maybe he licked a few. But I put those ones in the back, so all you'll see are the shiniest ones."

Amycus used his tongue to point out that there was ample rice scattered through the house for Alecto to play with, as well as a collection of all of her favorite things to bite.

"And to conclude, we've asked that all the guests bring gifts wrapped in shiny paper," Maisie finished for him.

"Yes, thank you, my darling Maisie," Amycus lovingly licked his wife's cheek as he stood beside her.

Crossing her arms, Alecto glared at the couple. "No being mushy! Today's _my_ birthday, and _I_ say there's no mushiness!"

As the lengthy appendage was retracted back into her husband's mouth, Maisie smiled. "Okay, sweetheart. We won't get mushy. But why don't we get you dressed for the day? The guests aren't supposed to arrive for another few hours, but that will leave you some more time to play with your rice before they get here."

Alecto was conflicted. She wanted to play with her rice, but the fact remained that she simply did _not_ have anything shiny enough for birthday festivities. Yes, she owned a few shiny dresses, but they just weren't as shiny as she wanted, and Maisie had stored her flower girl dress elsewhere so that Alecto wouldn't be tempted to wear it everywhere.

"I haven't got anything shiny enough," she told Maisie, with a bite to her finger.

Ignoring the slight pain, she merely smiled fondly at her daughter and summoned a silver package, which she handed to her. "Why don't you open that, Alecto? We were going to save all the gifts for the party, but I think this situation calls for what's inside."

It was a blizzard of shiny paper as Alecto insisted on tearing it into confetti and flinging it everywhere before she ran out and stopped to look at what had been concealed under the wrappings. Inside was what had to be the shiniest dress Alecto had ever seen, just perfect for celebrating her birthday in. Not to mention that if she wore a dress, she wouldn't need to bother with pants.

Alecto grinned as she, unsure who had chosen the shiny dress, nibbled the fingers of both Maisie and Amycus, then threw off her pajamas and donned her new gift.

"How do I look?" she asked, running her finger across the shiny fabric. Alecto decided she liked how it felt.

"Absolutely perfect," was Maisie's response. "Now, why don't you go play with your rice, and we'll leave you to it until the guests get here."

Within moments, her adopted daughter was thoroughly engaged in her rice-play, and would clearly be occupied until the party began. As Amycus sat back down and returned to his rapidly-cooling coffee, Maisie left to obtain the shiny cake they had ordered.

-x-

A burst of cold air drifted into the house as Amycus used his tongue to prop open the door for Les, Barty, and their three children. "Give Mummy your coats, and she'll hang those up," Les said.

Sev and Modesty complied. Gellert took off his coat, as well as his shoes, socks, and pants before his mother took him to the guest room to replace his discarded items and explain that if he did it again, she had brought another pair of pants and would make him wear them. The toddler pouted as he was sent back out to rejoin his siblings.

Soon afterward, Ella and Thorfinn arrived with Draco, who immediately abandoned his parents in favor of Sev and Gel. As they crossed the room to give their well-wishes to the birthday girl, Les detected the smell of blood and realized that Fenrir was behind her. She gave him a stern warning not to lay a finger on any of the children.

The door slid open again as Dragon and her family entered with plenty of shiny gifts. Alecto ran over to greet (and bite) her Auntie Dragon, Modesty followed to give Credence a hug, and Gellert wrapped himself around his leg and Les had to pry him off, armed with profuse apologies and assurances that Gel was just a little wound up and he'd probably feel better after running around for a while.

"Grendel hasn't been disrobing, has he?" Dragon asked Les as Credence went to deposit the gifts on the table, Nagini slithered off in search of pygmy puffs and discarded shoes, and Modesty attempted to discourage the toddlers from grabbing handfuls of Alecto's rice.

"He tried," Les admitted. "But we had a little talk about what will happen if he takes them off again."

Before Dragon could reply, Amycus admitted Maisie, who carried the shiny cake, and Bellatrix and Delphini, wheeling in a shiny confetti machine. "Go put that in the kitchen before Alecto sees it," Maisie told them, and mother and daughter complied immediately.

After carefully concealing the shiny confetti machine, Maisie stood beside Amycus as they surveyed the party. Alecto sat on the couch, between Bellatrix and Dragon, as she pointed out the Taj Mahal she'd made out of rice. Sev and Draco played with some unrelated rice that Maisie had brought them from the kitchen. Across the room, Fenrir listened as Delphini told him all about the Muggle hunt she'd been on recently. Modesty and Gellert were conversing with Credence and Nagini, and from the sounds of it, they were discussing leaf machines. Les and Barty chatted with Ella and Thorfinn, though they watched Gellert carefully to make sure his pants stayed on.

Deciding now was a good time for refreshments, Amycus used his tongue to bring in a platter of cookies, chuckling to himself when Alecto took five and handed him a grain of rice in return.

"Fank oo!" Gellert called to Amycus as he attached himself to the Death Eater's leg. While his mother was distracted, Sev took three. Draco began to follow suit, but Ella made him put two back.

"I'm so sorry. He's been doing that lately." Les removed Gellert and apologized to Amycus.

"Not a problem, dear dementor. Caring for my sister has given me a new appreciation for the little ones," Amycus replied.

But with the cookies depleted, the adopted children grew more and more restless. Alecto had only bitten the fingers of Dragon and Bellatrix, but looked like she would turn on one of the adopted children any moment. Maisie kept Fiona in a snek-proof bag and informed Nagini that they didn't have any other puffs, but her hunger clearly remained, and Credence had to remind her not to eat anyone's shoes. Gel looked close to removing his pants, and from the looks of things, Sev and Draco planned to join him.

"Maisie, dear," Amycus whispered over the conversations. "Don't you think we should have the cake and presents before the dementor pulls a sniffy old lady on Alecto, or someone goes home shoeless?"

Sighing in agreement, Maisie summoned the grateful attendees into the kitchen, shiny balloons bobbing as everyone took their seats.

-x-

 _"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you,_

 _Happy birthday, dear Alecto, happy birthday to you!"_

With the exception of Sev attempting to stick his fingers in the cake, and Alecto succeeding in sticking her fingers in the cake (which were hurriedly wiped by Maisie before Alecto got any on her dress,) everything was fine as the attendees sang to Alecto and began to collect slices of shiny cake.

The adults sat at one table (mostly to talk, but partially to avoid sticky, frosting-covered fingers) and the adopted children at another. While not cupcakes, the shiny cake was able to soothe most of Nagini's hunger, but the desire for shoes still remained.

"I don't understand," she said, wiping away some stray frosting. "Snek should not want shoes. But the trouble is, snek _does_ want shoes."

"I like shoes too. They're fun to bite!" Alecto contributed.

Just great. Someone else who liked to chew on shoes.

"You can has _my_ shoes, Nagini!" Draco offered "I pwomise I won't tew mummy!"

Gellert and Severus had also begun to offer their shoes before Credence told Nagini not to eat anyone's shoes, and Modesty told the other children not to suggest that Nagini eat any shoes.

"What if _I_ want to chew on shoes?" asked Alecto, pouting a bit.

A shrug from Modesty. "It's your birthday. You can if you want to."

As Alecto finished her cake and slipped from the table, beckoning to Nagini to follow her, Credence was the only one who had a hint as to where they were going. But he knew, as the lights went on in the foyer, that it was too late to stop them.

-x-

The Death Eater and the Maledictus returned just as Amycus suggested Alecto open her presents, and Maisie led Alecto over to the gift table. After the toddlers were reminded that this was Alecto's birthday and that all the gifts were for her, the guests watched for a while as Alecto unveiled what everyone had brought her.

Some of the gifts she received were shiny sprinkles, a large box of rice, more shiny clothing, a shiny puff bed for Fiona, numerous bitable objects, a stuffed turtle to aid in meditation, and, more than a bit to Maisie's dismay, numerous refills for the shiny confetti machine from Delphini.

Mesmerized, Alecto opened the box of rice and began to throw it everywhere as Bellatrix set off the confetti machine.

"This is far more fun than a leaf machine," Modesty commented when the initial shock began to die down. Bellatrix merely grinned as she unleashed three more rounds of confetti.

Confetti and rice rained down on the guests, and once assured that Maisie and Amycus did not need any help cleaning up the shiny paper, they gradually drifted back into their conversations. But the couple could sense that things were beginning to die down. Sev had given up on trying to pull Nagini's tail (to her relief,) Dragon was sandwiched between Credence and Alecto, and Delphi had slipped Yuèri into a bag to prevent her puff skittering into the fireplace.

When Draco fell asleep in Thorfinn's arms, and Barty found Gellert on the kitchen floor, they decided now was probably a good time to leave.

"Thank you for having us, Maisie," Les told her as she informed Sev and Modesty that it was time to go home. "You tell Alecto to enjoy her day."

"I will," Maisie promised, gazing lovingly over at her daughter. "She truly is adorable, isn't she?"

Les never had to answer that. As she chatted with Maisie, Ella poked her head in. "Maisie, where did you put all the shoes?"

Maisie explained, but the shoes just weren't where she had left them.

By now, more people had noticed the distinct lack of shoes in the foyer. Bellatrix said something about Muggle huntings, while Les began to wonder if Alecto simply thought it would be amusing to hide them.

At first, when Dragon asked her, Nagini denied having anything to do with the missing shoes. But Alecto contradicted her. "Auntie Dragon, Nagini _did_ eat the shoes. But not all of them, I chewed on them with her!"

Under normal circumstances, Dragon would be a bit less tolerant of Alecto and Nagini chewing on everyone's shoes. But as the former looked expectantly at her auntie, shiny sprinkles still in both of their hair, Dragon found it too hard to reprimand her.

"Well, we know _why_ ," Barty said, shifting the sleeping Gel in his arms. "But the question is how are we going to fix it?"

Surrounded by all the shiny decorations, Alecto slipped from the foyer and returned to her rice, eventually joined in the living room by most of the other adopted children. Whoever would tend to the shoe problem, it wouldn't be one of them.

Watching them through the doorway, Maisie and Amycus couldn't help but smile to themselves as they stole one moment together.

It was just another birthday when your adopted child was Alecto Carrow.

 _-end-_

 _i should probably just start putting '?' on all of these._


	4. perfect gifts

**deck the halls with rice and shinies**

 _ch4 - perfect gifts_

The time had come once again for Amycus to shop for a Christmas gift for Maisie. And this time, the caterpillar tongue man was prepared.

He got Alecto dressed, though he also provided a blanket, so that if she got hot she could just remove it instead of pitching her dress at some unfortunate shopper. Amycus deposited his sister in a shiny stroller, so she wouldn't wander off or insist he carry her. He also made sure to bring along all her rice, chew toys, cookies, and anything else he thought she might need.

That went well for about a store and a half.

As might be expected, Amycus liked to lick everything in sight when he went to a store. He licked the clothes, he licked the racks that held them, he licked the walls and the floors and the salespeople who asked if he needed help finding something. After Amycus licked the sixth customer, he was politely asked to leave.

It was just as well. Clothes did not quite capture the essence of Maisie.

Amycus pushed his sister down the corridor, peeking into windows and dragging his tongue over every visible surface. The only one who avoided a tongue bath was Alecto, and she'd already had one this afternoon.

"Would the Maisie like some perfume?" he asked himself upon seeing a perfume advertisement.

"Who wants flowery muggle water?" Alecto asked, disgust on her face.

"Flowery muggles, dear sister."

"She's not a flowery muggle!"

That was true. Maisie, like any respectable Malfoy, was far from a muggle. So Amycus went back to his search, and Alecto returned to her rice.

The wares offered here just didn't seem like things Maisie would need. Amycus found a set of napkins, but what use would his wife have for them when she had cereal wipes?

Another store sold makeup. Amycus stopped in, considering purchasing some for his wife.

For some reason, the makeup store was very crowded and Amycus ended up hitting three people in the face with his tongue. Alecto found some fingers to chew on and seemed to approve when their owner yelped in pain. While she nibbled, her brother viewed the selection of makeup.

This simply would not do at all. The lipstick was so red that Maisie's lips would be visible from across town. The foundation would leave Maisie looking (and feeling) like a tree. And none of the eyeliner Amycus could find was black enough for a Death Eater.

"Goodness," he said, passing some discarded makeup to his sister to chew on. "Is there nothing here to purchase for a Maisie?"

-x-

The caterpillar tongue man zigzagged from store to store, searching desperately for his coveted gift. With every store, he was met with disappointment. And Alecto was beginning to grow restless.

"I don't _want_ to look at yucky muggle stuff!" Alecto whined at some point during a visit to a shoe store.

Amycus sighed and licked a shoe. "I don't either, Alecto."

The next store wasn't any better. Neither was the next one. By now, Alecto was flinging rice and looked close to tears. Perhaps she needed a break.

Amycus found a seating area and sank into a chair. He only just spared enough time to free Alecto from her stroller and allow her to stretch her legs.

And that was when he saw it.

A black necklace was something ideal for any Death Eater in need of one. The only trouble was that on Knockturn Alley, most of such items were cursed.

But this was a muggle shopping center. Nothing here was going to hurt the Amycus's precious Maisie.

So he replaced Alecto in her stroller (to her dismay, and it did lead to Amycus having his finger bitten) and led her in search of the necklace.

The store selling the necklace was almost entirely unoccupied, save for a muggle cashier and a random customer. It was difficult for Amycus to stop himself from licking these people, so he tried to be as efficient as possible.

All was well until he realized that he was expected to pay for his purchases with muggle money.

Amycus, being the self-respecting Death Eater he was, did not possess such currency. He had given his sister some coins to chew on a few times, but those were all bitten beyond recognition by now. He wasn't even sure he had seen muggle paper money before. And now he was expected to hand some over?

He reached for his wand to kill the man. But a protest from Alecto stopped him before he could pull it out.

"Amycus, no!" she insisted, tossing some rice at him.

"Whyever not, dearest sibling?" he frowned, peering down at her. "Does it not please you to hear the tortured cries of these worthless beings?"

"Well, yes," Alecto said. It was true that the dying screams of muggles were often used as a lullaby to put her to sleep. "But if you wrap the muggle up and give it to mommy for Christmas, then you won't have to go shopping anymore."

Amycus could tell that his sister just wanted to be done with shopping. But she'd given him a very good idea. He knew what he would give Maisie for Christmas now.

With a bit of nonverbal magic, Amycus twisted both muggles into pretzels and temporarily shrunk them to fit in a shopping bag. It dangled from his arm as he and Alecto turned to leave at last.

-end-

 _yeah, idk._


End file.
